Overseas voting starts today for Boto ng Kabataan 2025

A woman watches as officials at a polling station start the counting of votes of the nationwide village and youth representative elections in Manila on October 30, 2023. Security forces were on high alert across the Philippines on October 30 as millions of people voted for village leaders following months of deadly poll-related violence. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP)

THE month-long overseas voting started today, April 13, for the #BotoNgKabataan2025 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections said on Sunday.

It started at 8 a.m. and will run until 7 p.m., on May 12, the official end of voting even in the Philippines.

A test voting for registered overseas voters enrolled in the Online Voting and Counting System was done on Saturday, April 12, at exactly 11:59 p.m., Philippine Standard Time).

“Ngayong araw na ito, kanina, actually ng madaling araw, ay simula na ng pagboto ng mga kababayan natin abroad — ‘yung tinatawag na overseas voting,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia was quoted as saying at a radio interview.

“Ang pagboto ng ating mga kababayan natin abroad doon sa 77 posts ay via internet voting. At do’n naman sa 16 na posts ay sa pamamagitan ng pagpunta sa embahada o kaya naman ay konsulada,” he said as internet voting abroad is open 24 hours a day.

According to the Comelec, the registered Filipino voters in areas in New Zealand under the jurisdiction of the Wellington Philippine Embassy were the first ones to cast their votes.

It was 4:00 a.m. in Manila.

Garcia said that there are 1.231 million Filipino voters abroad.

However, as of Friday, April 11, only 48,000 overseas Filipino voters enrolled in the pre-voting enrollment system for the 2025 polls.